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Manchester United draw Celta Vigo in the Europa League semi-final

by Nick Miller 5 months ago

Manchester United have been drawn to face Celta Vigo in the semi-final of the Europa League, with Ajax facing Lyon in the other tie

12.24pm BST

The draw: in summary

Manchester United have been drawn to face Celta Vigo in the semi-final of the Europa League, with Ajax facing Lyon in the other tie.

United reached the semi-finals by beating Anderlecht 3-2 on aggregate, with Marcus Rashford hitting an extra-time winner on Thursday night. Celta beat RC Genk after securing a 1-1 draw in Belgium, which meant they went through 3-2 on aggregate.

This is the first time United have reached this stage of this competition, either in its current guise or when it was the UEFA Cup. Their previous best performance came in 1985, when they were defeated by Hungarian side Videoton in the quarter-finals.

This will be the first time United have ever faced Celta in a competitive match. The first leg, in Spain, will be played on May 4, while the return at Old Trafford will take place on May 11.

Updated at 12.26pm BST

12.18pm BST

So there you go. Following in the footsteps of fellow Manc Steve Coogan, United will be taking a trip to Spain. The first leg will be on May 4, with the second on May 11.

12.16pm BST

Second semi-final: Celta Vigo v Manchester United

Step forward Iago!

12.15pm BST

First semi-final: Ajax v Lyon

But who will United play!????!!!!!??

12.15pm BST

The first team out is...Ajax.

12.15pm BST

Here we go...

12.12pm BST

The man doing the draw for this one is...Patrick Andersson, ex of Bayern Munich and of course a Swedish man. The final will be in Stockholm this year, in case you hadn’t joined the dots.

12.10pm BST

Quick reminder that if United draw Celta, we could be in for the prospect of Iago Aspas taking a corner in England once again.

12.06pm BST

The mayor of Stockholm is on stage. She might be a robot. Reports unconfirmed so far.

12.01pm BST

Here we go again. Pedro Pinto sashays his way onto the stage in the UEFA lecture theatre. Hopefully the representatives from the clubs aren’t flicking ink at each other.

11.48am BST

Quick reminder that this tournament does appear to now be Jose Mourinho’s priority. From a couple of weeks ago:

I just want to think that against Everton we are going to do what we tried to do [against West Brom], to try to play with our best team and try to win the match,” Mourinho said. “And after Everton we go to Sunderland with the same perspective, and then after Sunderland the Europa League comes and I don’t know. Then, it’s possible that you see me play in the Premier League with a team where I’m going to protect the players that I consider fundamental for the Europa League. But only, only if the results in the next matches put us in a situation where mathematically, it becomes almost impossible to do it.”

Preamble

Hello there. Look at you, back here for more. A quick reminder of the teams left in this Europa League draw.

Ajax

Celta Vigo

Lyon

Manchester United

So who should United hope for? Does it really matter at this stage? Given that the two legs of this semi will sandwich a trip to Arsenal in the league, is the best outcome for them just the easiest away trip? Which will be Ajax, presumably. Or would the old romantics among you rather they saved that one for the final?